Sen. Scott Brown skips the Meridian Ball,but hits the Meridian VIP party

By Christina Wilkie - 10/04/10 07:13 PM ET

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) took some grief from the Washington press on Monday for missing Friday night’s Meridian Ball, where his wife, Gail Huff, was a gala co-chairwoman.

The popular senator has yet to make a big debut on the Washington social scene since he arrived in the nation’s capital last February, and a few partygoers were disappointed not to see him dancing the night away on Friday.

But there’s more to this story.

The real Meridian VIP party was held on Thursday night, and according to guests, Brown was right there in the thick of it.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted approximately 100 people for dinner Thursday in the diplomatic reception rooms at the State Department to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Meridian International Center.

In addition to Brown, dinner attendees included Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.), as well as their spouses.

During the Thursday night dinner, Meridian honored former Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley with the 2010 Meridian Public Diplomacy Award.